Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol 6.djvu/407

 THK MAIN FIGHT. 363 regiments — they must be again falling back.* To chap. give such a message to Bosquet was to declare au ' instant need for some thousands of fresh troops. f 4"'^«"«'- There were no reinforcements so near as to be able to meet this exigency at once, and appar- ently it now lay in the power of the enemy to thrust back both the 6th of the Line and the 7th L^ger, thus ridding the field of all Frenchmen, except the truant body of Zouaves. But happily oi.i.oituniiy the Russians did not see the occasion presented enemy. to them, or at all events did not seize it. III. The state of the atmosphere was such that the giouiki victorious advance of the enemy's column on the tiie EngUsii ^ on the line right of the Quarry Eaviiie could be seen by of the post- ^ _ -^ -^ road. troops acting in the more central part of the field ; and our people there, when they ob- served that their flank was thus turned, could hardly help seeing that the positions they held were somewhat too far in advance. Though slowly and sparingly, they nevertheless yielded ground. And now too on the opposite flank the enemy threw out a column which turned the left of our captains as the pur])ort of the communication he was wanting to make to Bosquet. t The strength of the French regiments was such that to ask for ' two or three ' of them would be to ask for from 3000 to 50CO men.
 * - yielded liy
 * This was .stated by the staff officer to one of our artillery